Pyrophoric lighter



Dec. 20, 1949 A, H, O'RMESHER 2,4192%0 PYROPHORIC LIGHTER Filed May 15;1948 Arthur 'rlarr'son Ormesher His Agent Patented Dec. 20,1949

PYRQPHORIC LIGHTER Arthur Harrison Ormcsher, Chcsterfield, EnglandApplication May 15, 1948, Serial No. 27,312

In Great Britain May 23, 1947 3 Claims. (01. 67--7.1)

The present invention has reference to frictional igniters or pyrophoriclighters of the kind in which the cylindrical or other flint is pressedinto operative contact with the friction wheel by means of a helicalspring located in a guide tube whichextends into a casing.

In this kind of igniter, the casing is usually provided with a singlefriction wheel located to one side of the flame-guard and with a coiledspring pressing a single flint against the periphery of said frictionwheel. The result is that if, from any cause, the wheel fails to operateso as to ignite the charged wick, or if the flint itself wears out, thedevice is out of action. Moreover, the adjustment of the pressure of thecoiled spring upon the flint, is often a matter of difiiculty due tovarious causes.

The present invention is applicable to small pyrophoric lighters orpocket igniters and has for objects to overcome those disadvantages andto provide duplicated igniting means associated with a single wick andsingle flame guard. ".It also has for objects to impart pressuresimultaneously to the flints of said duplicated igniting means, toprovide a fine adjustment of the spring pressure upon theflintsandtoprovide a simple method of adjusting the pressure upon both said flints,and to provide a visual indication of the degree of pressure exerted.

The present invention is hereafter described with reference to theannexed drawings in which- Fig. 1 is an elevation of a pocket igniter,with its upper and lower caps in position and a corner broken. away.Fig. 2 is an elevation showing the main casing with its caps removed anda corner broken away. Figs. 3 and rare plan views of respectively theunderside and the top of Fig. 2. Fig. 5 is a diagram showing thecap-member held inposition on the main casing. Fig. 6 shows the U-shapedmember detached to illustrate the screw-threaded arms engaged by thesprings. Fig. 7 is an enlarged view of the U-shaped memher and springs,the parts being separated.

The casing a is shown fitted at top with a sheath-like cover or cap b toprotect the two friction Wheels 0 and the single flame-guard d, saidflame-guard being common to the wheels 0 and having gaps d d A secondsheath-like cap member e having a skirt 6 covers the lower part of thecasing a and can slide to a limited extent upon the latter.

The casing a contains fuel-charged wadding or the like 1 and also twoparallel guide tubes g, which extend up the casing towards the frictionwheels. Each of these wheels cc is mounted on an axle 0 extendingbetween fork-arms gr g formed at top of the tubes 9. he Single Wick isindicated at f in Figs. 2 and 4, inside the flameguard d. Wirecompression springs hh are fitted in the tubes go to press the usualfiints (one of which 0 is indicated in Fig. 2) against the frictionwheels 0, and these springs ar themselves acted on by the parallel armsz'i of a U-shaped intermediate member having a mainly flat crosspiece7'; the said member being formed, for example, from metal rod.

These parallel arms are detachably or releasl ably connected with thesprings and they extend partly into the tubes gg. As shown in Figures 2and 6, the arms ii ar screw-threaded externally at 2' 1 to a pitchcorresponding with that I of the coils of the springs hh so that eachspring can, when necessary, be adjusted along the corresponding arm.

By applying pressure to the cross-piece 9', both the springs hh and theflints will be simultaneously pressed up the guide tubes gg. For

that purpose, the cap member 6 which fits over this displaceableintermediate member, is slidable to a limited extent upon the casing aand its base or closure 6 is adapted to bear against the flatcross-piece :i (see Fig. 1) so that as the cap 5 member 6 is pushed upthe casing a, the pressure of, the two arms ii upon the two coiledsprings hh will be increased. This one U-shaped member can thussimultaneously transmit the pressure upon both springs hh and thepressure on the spring can also be increased by unscrewing the springalong the arm.

The pressure-applying cap member e is also provided with means forholding it in the desired position upon the casing a. As shown in Fig. 1and Fig. 6, I form the skirt e of the cap member c with a series ofspaced indentations k equidistant apart and adapted to engage and besprung over a series of similar cross ribs 1 provided upon andupstanding from the casing a. These indentations and ribs thusinter-engage to form. a spring-rack connection and serve to hold the capmember e in the desired pressure-applying position upon the casing 11..

Because of the connection between the springs hh and the arms 2'2 andthe cross piece 7', the whole can be bodily removed, when required, fromthe lighter.

An advantage of the U-shaped member iii is that lt'can be turned throughdegrees. so that the arm-carried spring h which has been provided forone guide tube g and the flint therein can be exchanged if necessarywith those parts in the other guide tube. Thus either arm 1' and itsspring can be employed for either tube 9 which is often advantageous, aswill be obvious.

A further feature of my invention is that to secure the helical springsto the arms ii in a manner which permits of a finer adjustment betweenspring and arm I form said helical springs h with coils h which are openor of coarse pitch at the end adjacent to the flint, the said springshaving closed-together or closelapped coils n at the opposite end. Suchan arrangement is illustrated in Figure 7. The closelapped coils nresemble an internally screw.- threaded sleeve with a thread of a finepitch and the arm 1' engaging such closeslapped coils isex.-

secondary adjustment of such pressure can be made by unscrewing thespring along its arm.

Storage space for aligned lengths of spare fiints inside the tubes 119'can also be obtained by adjustment of the spring along the arm andtowards the open end of the casing.

The cross section of the main casing a and of its extremital caps be ispreferably of flattened oval shape which is a suitable shape for apocket igniter (seeFigures 3 and 4) and the two sets of igniting meansare preferably arranged symmetrically of the casing. The casing may,however, be of othershape in orosssection.

It will be noted from Figs. 2 and 4" that the wheels cc pass in partthrough the sides of the flamerguard d.

As compared with the arrangement described in my co-pending applicationNo. 27,311 filed on the same date, the pressure--transmitting memberacted upon by the pressure-applying base e or the slidable cap e,includes a crosspiece 7' between two parallel arms ii and thatcross-piece is mainly flat and directly acted upon by the base 6 of thecap-member 'so that both arms 2' and 2' are pushed up simultaneously.

What I claim is:

1. A pyrophoric lighter of the kind having a casing with duplicated,individually operablelighting devices thereon, said devices includingguided compression springs pressing fiints towards rotatable frictionwheels, said lighter comprising a sheath-like cap closed at its outerend and ad justably slidable at its open inner end upon said casing,means for retaining said cap in an adjusted position on said casing, andan interble in position upon said casing, means provided. between theskirt-portion of said cap and said casing for retaining said cap in anadjusted position, and" an intermediate member having a cross limb andtwo parallel arms, said arms extending into said tubes and bearingagainst said coiled springs, said arms being screw-threaded externallyto engage adjustably with the coils of said springs, the base of saidcap contacting said crosseli'mbto apply pressure simultaneously'to,

h said springs.

3. In a pyrophoric lighter which includes a casing, a. singleflame-guard mounted on. said casing, a single wick projecting from saidcasing and into said flame-guard, parallel tubes extend.- ing throughsaid casing. a flint and a compression Spring" located. in each of.said-1 tubes, each said spring adapted to bear on the flint in. thattube, and rotatable friction-wheels supported on said. casing and eachpassing in part through a gap in; said: flame guard thecombination of. aU-sbaped member having parallel arms engaging: against said springs,said parallel arms being each. releasably connected with one of saidsprings, a capinemberslidable upon said casing and applying pressureconstantly against both said: springs through said U=-s-haped member,and means for holding. said cap in an adjusted position. said. holdingmeans consisting of a springrack connection between said. casing andsaid cap member.

ARTHUR HARRISON ORMESHERJ.

REFERENGES CITED The following references are of record in the file ofthis patent:

UNITED STATES PATENTS

